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BOSTON—They’re big. They’re bad. And they can bust a move — or a face.

Historically, that has always been the way of the Bruins. This year, it also describes the Maple Leafs, top fighting club in the NHL. Which is why the first-round playoff tilt between these two clubs had been widely anticipated as a physical tour-de-force — hockey walloping — but not necessarily a fist-flying tour-de-farce, starring their respective enforcers, a breed that typically shrivels in relevance and deployment in the post-season.

Thumping rather than thrashing, with both coaches laying down the laws of engagement before the puck dropped.

As Randy Carlyle put it Wednesday morning, a tad euphemistically: “There will be bodies projected into one another.’’

Under the heading of physicality, at least, Toronto kept pace with Boston, actually out-hitting the Bruins 29-26 over the course of a mighty bumptious Game 1.

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“That’s one column of many,’’ noted captain Dion Phaneuf. “It’s obviously a big part of the way that we have to play. But we’ve got to be better in a lot of areas.’’

Prediction from one veteran and battered corner of the Bruins dressing room: “In the playoffs, the puck’s usually optional for the first few shifts.’’

That was Shawn Thornton talking, destined for the Enforcer Hall of Fame some day, but for now still very much an active intimidator, provocateur and menacing presence, part of Boston’s “Smash-Mouth’’ fourth line. What he meant is that both clubs intended to establish their physicality bona fides out of the chute, planting their flags on the ice — this space is mine and approach at your peril. And then they’d get around to playing some meaningful hockey.

“I’m sure it’ll be a physical affair for the first little bit,’’ Thornton — drafted by the Leafs way back in 1997 and four years on the St. John’s farm — had predicted, “until everyone settles down and gets into a groove.’’

Leafs appeared to have established that groove early — and then they careened into a rut.

“We played physical at times but I don’t think we necessarily played our physical side of the game for the full 60 minutes,’’ said Frazer McLaren, his face a topography of fresh bruises and welts.

He drew a roughing minor at the 20-minute mark of the third period, when all the Leafs could do was send a message about the next game. By that point, fellow tough-guy Colton Orr had been excused from the proceedings, ushered off at 16:35 with a deuce of belligerent infractions, roughing and cross-checking, and a 10-misconduct. Earlier Orr had flexed his protective muscles after Mikhail Grabovski had been tattooed into the boards by Johnny Boychuk, left in an alarmingly still pile.

“We had a good start,’’ McLaren pointed out, for those who might have forgotten how different this game had felt in its opening stages. “We were definitely ready to go. For whatever reason, we kind of got into a bit of a lull there. They got the momentum and we found ourselves struggling to get out of that. We need to do a better job turning the tide quicker. For stretches there, we let our game get away from us, had a little bit of trouble getting out of our zone.’’

Carlyle offered a frank summation — the team had self-destructed, he said. McLaren agreed.

“They’re a good team, so give them credit. But at the same time, we definitely feel like we shot ourselves in the foot. We definitely didn’t put our best foot forward, that’s for sure. Like Randy said, we self-destructed there, at whatever point in the game.’’

Over-eagerness, an impatience to seize ownership of the series in the first five minutes of Game 1, was a concern in both camps.

Thornton, for one, had discounted the risk of excessive zeal, maliciously or foolishly applied. “This is my 16th year, I think. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve figured out a way to stay on the edge without stepping over the line. I don’t expect it to get out of hand.’’

It did just that, of course, once the score had got out of hand. Whether that set a truculent tone for this series remains to be seen. But the Leafs have to find something to be going on with.

“We’ve got a character group,’’ said Phaneuf. “We had setbacks during the year. This is not time to hang your head. We’ve got to get right back to it tomorrow, have a couple of good days of practice, and get ready for Saturday.’’

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